Christchurch Opinions Please

[wblevin]

There are five of us traveling. In general, we prefer our own tours - usually booking private tours.

 

We plan to visit the Antarctic Center first with the Hagglund ride, then head out to Orana Wildlife Center and then back to the City for the Gondola Trip up to Port Hills and then back to the ship.

 

I am finding this trip from Sydney to Auckland quite expensive for the private tours and now have the dlimemna of trying to do Christchurch on our own via public transportation - certainly possible, but want to make sure we will get to all that we want to see and not feel rushed. Or maybe we do better to rent a car for the day - certainly a consierably less expensive option than the private tour guide.

 

The last option would be the private tour guide - and I am sure that we would get to see considerably more, but not sure that it would be worthwhile taking in the considerable cost - extras would include a city tour showing us Cathedral square, arts centre, museum , art gallery, mona vale, gardens and sign of takahe.

 

Any opions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kachinadoll]

We are doing a tour in Feb in Christchurch with Terry Thomsen. You can reach him at <info@insidestory.co.na>. He does city tours and day trips out of the city. He is very nice to work with and his prices seem reasonable. he will pick up and drop off at ship. We are doing a tour to Arthur's Pass with him.

 

Good Luck

[M&A]

We visited Christchurch last April and we didn't sign up for any tours. We just took the bus to the city center and just wandered around this great city. The classic trams are worth seeing and you jump on jump off anywhere. There are some beautiful parks and botanical gardens, we spent hours walking around the gardens.

We saw the ships cruise tours visiting the same places we walked to.

 

I would recommend that you do your own walking tour of Christchurch.

[Spikesgirl]

We hired a private driver through the ship and it was really expensive, but we got to see all that we wanted and he recommended many things that we didn't know about. I'm in the theater, so he took us to their theater and sweet talked his way inside so that we could meet with folks. Chris loves flowers and we spent much time in an incredible garden (botannical) and (luck of the draw) our driver was a gardener, so he also provided lots of info. For lunch, check out the Toll Station Restaurant. Food was fabulous!

 

You might want to mix taxi with public transport as the system seemed very good in the city. We had a wonderful time in Christchurch and I hope you will too.

 

Charlie

[SheilaNC]

We also did Christchurch on our own (twice). Don't miss the tram, Botanical Gardens, punting on the river, visit to the Arts Center, Canterbury Cathedral. There is a good visitors center with lots of brochures and tickets to short tours. We got transportation and ticket to the Antarctic Center - loved it and did a tour out of Lyttleton to see wild dophins (didn't see any!). You will not be able to do everything in one day and still get back to the ship on time for sailing so determine what you most want to see first. Then I'd do public transportation to the city, go to the visitors center and take it from there. Note: Christchurch is a good walking city since most sights are within walking distance of each other. Have a great day in one of my favorite cities in NZ.

[wblevin]

Thank you all. Think I will now opt to take a bus or cab out to the Antarctic center, decided not to do the Orana Wildlife Park and will do a nice walking/riding tour of the city on our own.

 

So much appreciate all your input!

[Budget Queen]

I did not go to the wildlife center, but easily did the Antarctic Center and gondola with the city bus. This took up all my Christchurch port time. How much time do you have??

 

There will be shuttles to outside of the dock area. You can walk to the city bus stop. Purchase the all day pass for $10. This takes you to the transportation center, where you switch to the airport bus. The bus stop is right out front the Antarctic Center. You NEED to tell the driver you are going there, also on return, be sure to wave the driver down, they have a habit of passing by. :) You can spend several hours here. I purchased the recorded tour- was excellent. :) Back on the city bus, transfer to the same bus back to the ship. The gondola stop is on this same bus line, again door to door service. :) Then bus back to the shuttle for back to the ship. It is a uphill walk, if you have mobility limitations.

 

A cab would be a LOT of money. It was miles from the airport.

[wblevin]

We arrive in Christchurch at 7am - will immediately get the bus to the arctic center - which opens at 9am. Please to do the gold pass there - the behind the scenes with the penguins and then hoping to catch a bus into the center of town. Hoping to get there by around noonish for a several hour segway tour and then a punt on the avon at the end of the day. We leave at 6 - so we must be on a bus back to the ship by 5:00 latest.

[swdke]

Might want to consider punting on the Avon.

[jagoffee]

What is punting?

[swdke]

What is punting?

 

Punting on the Avon is kind of like a Gondolier, as in Venice, taking you on a boat ride on the Avon river, through a park in Christchurch. Except it's called punting, and the guy standing in the back of the boat with a long stick pushing you along the river is a punter. http://www.punting.co.nz It's a nice way to relax, and it only takes 30 min. It's one of the popular things to do in Christchurch. But, reservations may be necessary to avoid a wait. It really depends upon how busy they are. I was there this past Dec. 10 and there was not wait time, but then again, it wasn't a weekend, there were no cruise ships in town, and we were there when they opened. I honestly don't know if reservations are necessary, but worth looking into if you're on a tight schedule. Anyhow, I do highly recommend this fun, relaxing, scenic, and historic activity. Have fun.

[bobsydney]

Apparently it's not quite like Venice!! When I mentioned on another thread recently that it might be a romantic thing to do, a poster said that the ducks in the Avon don't float or swim by, they can actually walk on the river bottom. Nevertheless, it does sound like a fun thing to do, and we might still do it if we have 30 min to spare and don't have to queue.

 

Cheers

Bob

[swdke]

Apparently it's not quite like Venice!! When I mentioned on another thread recently that it might be a romantic thing to do, a poster said that the ducks in the Avon don't float or swim by, they can actually walk on the river bottom. Nevertheless, it does sound like a fun thing to do, and we might still do it if we have 30 min to spare and don't have to queue.

 

Cheers

Bob

 

No, it's not like Venice. I just said that to help in visualizing what punting is like. Yes, there are indeed quite a few ducks, but they do swim. The water is shallow, maybe 1' to 1 1/2' deep, but deep enough for the ducks to swim.

[Spikesgirl]

We did this on our excursion there as a private tour. We left from a dock at a home that was open to the public (it served a wonderful tea in its dining room). The trip was short, probably less than 30 minutes, but enjoyable. You float by some of the nicest houses in the region. We were especially pleased and surprised that our punter was just up the road from our home. Small world -

 

You can contact 03-379-9629 for bookings or just check behind the visitors information center for departures.

 

Charlie

[jagoffee]

Thank you.

[leg]

Hi

We returned Jan. 6 to 20 on the Mercury and was going to do our own self guided tour as you are contemplating however after alot of research we did the Natures Wonder in Dunedin, it was a fantastic fun tour to see the yellow eyed penquins and fur seals but the ride through the terrain on a 4 wheel vehicle was our most exciting trip and I would highly recommend it. We also went to see the Albatross which was very close to Natures Wonder but most of them were sleeping on their eggs and not to exciting.Hope this helps

Leg